Published on Jan 27, 2006
After an extended layoff, Donald Fagen and Walter
Becker faced quite possibly the biggest challenge of their career
— namely, showing they were still able to produce the kind of
music they had become known for in their salad days. Two Against
Nature, despite all the awards and acclaim it won, was a shaky
first step that seemed to follow the lackluster “final” release
Gaucho plod for plod. It was, in fact, boring as hell.
Everything Must Go, the second release from
the rejuvenated Steely Dan, shows the boys finally seeming to
become comfortable in their roles again, and while it still doesn’t
reflect some of the group’s glory days, it is a more
organic-sounding album that holds out the hope of something
mind-blowing just around the corner. If only we had the chance to
experience that with this disc.
Becker makes his first “official” studio appearance
as lead throat on “Slang Of Ages” — and while it’s different not
hearing Fagen’s vocals, Becker holds his own extremely well, and he
sounds more comfortable here than he did on Alive In
America. It almost makes me wonder why he didn’t step up to the
mic sooner.
Where Two Against Nature was almost sterile in
its performances (not unlike the note-for-note perfection they were
known for in the ’70s), Everything Must Go almost sounds
spontaneous at times. This turns out to be the linchpin that holds
this disc together, making it fun to listen to at times, even if
none of these songs can hold a candle to classics like
“Bodhisattva” — yet. (Chances are I’d have been making the same
comments about the older albums had I reviewed them when they came
out.)
This isn’t to say there is no hope for some of these
to reach that echelon. “The Last Mall” almost drips with the
sarcastic wit that Steely Dan has become known for, while the title
track almost dares to suggest that Becker and Fagen would be
comfortable enough to call it a day again as Steely Dan. (That’s
the message I took from it, at least — and I don’t claim to be
right.)
Likewise, “Blues Beach,” “Godwhacker” and “Pixeleen”
have the germination of the seeds of greatness in them, but it
sometimes feels like they just haven’t reached songwriting maturity
yet — at least in Steely Dan terms. That’s not saying these songs
are bad; indeed, they’re quite enjoyable.
Yet there are times when you wonder just what
happened to the glint of a great idea. Reading over the lyrics for
“Lunch With Gina,” you almost expect this to be a knock-’em-dead
classic. Instead, this turns out to be one of the more menial
tracks on the disc — a shame, really.
I’d like to think that Everything Must Go is
Steely Dan’s effort to once again achieve the greatness of discs
like Aja — namely by recognizing they had some rust to
shake off their pens and inkwells. While this isn’t a true return
to form for Steely Dan, it is most definitely a step in the right
direction.